1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a merchandise security tag configured to display a predetermined optical image, and more specifically, to a merchandise security tag and system for providing optical indicia of the payment status of an article of merchandise.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern stores utilize an electronic check out policy for scanning articles of merchandise and tabulating a total cost of all of the articles of merchandise. In some stores, a store employee manually checks out each of the articles of merchandise, scanning each of the items through the use of an optical scanner that is configured to read a bar code such as a Universal Product Code (UPC) that is associated with that article of merchandise and that contains information such as the price of that article. In these stores, theft of articles of merchandise is limited due to the physical presence of the store employee scanning each article of merchandise. In other stores, customers are allowed to utilize “self-checkout” procedures in which the customer manually scans their own articles of merchandise and then departs the store. In these stores, employee expenses are reduced since the customer scans their own articles of merchandise, however, these stores are also susceptible to an increased amount of merchandise theft since a store employee is not scanning each individual article. In some stores, an employee may oversee several self-checkout registers at a given time, however, the employee may miss items that were intentionally or inadvertently omitted from scanning. In other stores, one employee may be positioned at the general exits of the store to monitor the articles of merchandise taken by customers out of the store, however, this employee must verify each individual article of merchandise against the customer's receipt. Often times, the receipt may contain dozens of articles of merchandise and the store employee may not be able to review each of these articles. In addition, some persons may take an unpaid item from a store shelf and attempt to fraudulently return the item for a store credit. This type of theft may be difficult to police.
Some stores utilize tamper detection tags placed on articles of merchandise in order to track inadvertent or intentional theft. These detection tags may include magnetic and acousto-magnetic systems that produce a harmonization signal readable by an external scanner positioned at an exit of the store. In other instances, stores may use radio-frequency and microwave systems. These tags and systems suffer from various drawbacks, notably costs associated with an extra detection tag that must be activated and installed upon the article of merchandise, false alarms associated with tags that have not been deactivated when, in fact, the article of merchandise has been paid for, the fact that the tags are easily deactivated by an educated shoplifter, and an inability of store employees and customers to determine if a tag has been deactivated because the tags do not contain any visual indication of activation or deactivation.
Re-writable tags such as “E-paper” for use with electronic shelf labels have been introduced into some stores but still suffer from various drawbacks. Electronic shelf labels can provide an indication of an item's purchased state, however, electronic shelf labels require a continuous power supply in order to provide such indication. Consequently, electronic shelf labels must be positioned in proximity to a power supply or have an internal battery and have a label scanner and then be simultaneously read by a store employee while near that power supply in order to function properly.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved security tag for articles of merchandise that addresses the problem associated with conventional security tags and E-Paper labels.